North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) standardization agreement (STANAG) 4074 (“Auxiliary Power Unit Connections for Starting Tactical Land Vehicles”) defines the physical and electrical characteristics of a power coupling provisioned on many military vehicles used throughout NATO countries. The purpose of the power coupling is to provide, by use of an inter-vehicular slave cable, means for “jump starting” a second vehicle which has low power and is unable to be started in the usual manner.
Just as cigarette lighters in consumer vehicles have become a popular means for providing power to other electrical devices (e.g., cellular phone chargers), the power coupling on military vehicles is often used to supply electrical power to additional devices that are temporarily installed in the vehicle (e.g., computer systems). Typically only a single power coupling is provided in a vehicle, although several devices may need to be simultaneously powered at any given time. Competition therefore exists between devices for access to the power coupling. Moreover, use of the power coupling to provide electrical power to these devices prevents the power coupling from being available for its primary purpose, namely, jump starting second vehicles.
Thus, there is a need in the art for a power adapter for use with standard NATO power couplings.